By SDCN Editor
San Diego, CA–The County of San Diego has teamed up with UC San Diego to introduce Revive & Survive San Diego, a new initiative aimed at saving lives through widespread CPR training.
The initiative’s goal is to train 1 million San Diegans in hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for individuals experiencing cardiac arrest. Hands-only CPR involves performing chest compressions at a rate of 100 to 120 per minute, without the need for mouth-to-mouth breathing. Studies have shown that early administration of hands-on CPR by bystanders can significantly increase the chances of survival for cardiac arrest victims.
In recent years, CPR training has shifted towards the hands-on approach, as mouth-to-mouth breathing is no longer considered essential. In San Diego County, only 8 percent of people who suffered an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in 2021 were successfully revived and survived.
Dr. Kristi Koenig, the County of San Diego Emergency Medical Services medical director and co-lead of the Revive & Survive San Diego initiative, emphasized the importance of CPR training in saving lives, stating, “No amount of preparedness in a hospital can save a life if the person does not make it into the building. Receiving CPR at the scene will save lives.”
Revive & Survive San Diego will collaborate with local healthcare providers and community organizations to provide free hands-on CPR training and conduct countywide outreach.
For more information about Revive & Survive San Diego, including CPR training opportunities, and partnership opportunities, or to support the initiative, visit revivesurvive.ucsd.edu.
